by Sage, May
Alexius opened his mouth, and closed it again.
Holy shit.
He couldn't believe he'd been held back by a curse that fucking stupid. How the hell hadn't he worked it out?
Come to think of it, it made sense. His fucking father might have been an asshole, but he'd been smart enough to know that Alexius might learn control someday, and he might learn to help people; what he wouldn't naturally have learned was how to forgive himself for what he'd done.
And he hadn't, in a way. Not really. He was still sorry for the lives he'd taken a long time ago. He just ceased to beat himself up about it.
He intended to go forward with his life. Help people when he could. Enjoy the small things with his friends. Be happy in the arms of his mate. He would have been content doing all that in Oldcrest now. Not focusing on his captivity—and the reason behind it—had ended up freeing him.
He only had a minute to wonder at his own stupidity before a car approached Oldcrest from the main road. Soon, it swerved toward them as its driver spotted them.
The car should have clued him in; it was a pristine vintage Cadillac, so shiny it might as well have just come out of the factory. Its driver was something a lot older.
He came out, wearing a dark tailcoat and holding a walking stick that he didn't actually need. For walking, in any case. The sword inside it might have come in handy half an hour ago.
"What did I miss?" asked Fenrir Knox, the Immortal Wolf.
Avani yelped and rushed to his side before wrapping her arms around him.
Alexius might have pouted. Just a bit.
"Everything," he replied. "But your timing couldn't be more perfect. You have a pack to take care of, if you don't want us to clean it up for you."
Knox listened to their tale with an even expression, making no remark, though he did tilt his head and smile, observing Avani's mark.
"Helsing, hm? I guess you could have done worse. Possibly. If you tried very hard."
Avani laughed. "He's perfect. And perfect for me."
"I'm glad to hear it."
If Alexius wasn't mistaken, The Wolf wasn't just glad. There was something in his eyes a lot like envy.
Once they were done, he headed to the Wolvswoods, presumably to clean house. It was just as well; Alexius suspected there would be far less bloodshed that way.
A few minutes later, the screams coming from the woods suggested otherwise.
They headed back up to the hill in silence, until Chloe asked Sylvan,
"What was it with the sword, by the way? I felt strange when I got it."
The De Villier slayer grinned. "I was told you had some Enlightened blood, so I thought it might work for you. It's a divine instrument. Not a very powerful one; it belonged to a minor god I had to kill a while back. It's yours, my lady."
"Oh, I couldn't."
Sylvan shrugged. "I stole it from a corpse. Don't sweat it."
Alexius wrapped his arm around Avani's waist and smiled down at her.
A normal man might have asked her how she felt about all this. The battle. The marks on their shoulders. Their unbreakable link.
He didn't need to. He felt it; he felt her, and could listen to her unguarded thoughts.
He was hers, to have and to hold.
"You should get a dress for the wedding."
"Someone's getting married?"
He shrugged. "We are." He pointed to Chloe and Levi. "Just because these two are taking their time doesn't mean we should."
"I wouldn't mind a wedding." Levi winced. "She's the one making me work for it."
Chloe just laughed.
Avani tilted her head. "Maybe I should, too."
He dipped his head to her lips, and kissed her softly. "I'll work on it all night long. Wedding tomorrow. Deal?"
She was his and he wanted her in every possible way. Now. For the rest of time.
“Deal.”
He leaned in and grinned as her scent hit his nostrils, more enticing than ever. “Good, because you look just like my future wife.”
She laughed. “Dork. You really do have the worst lines.”
“It’s all good.” He winked. “You love me anyway.”
She didn’t even bother to deny it, which was just as well. Because over the course of the last month and a half, he somehow had completely fallen for his gorgeous, kind, sexy, strong, crazy wolf.
Meanwhile…
Diana felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her favorite short denim skirt. She ignored it. The next pocket was going to be hard, but she'd win. Today, she'd fucking win.
She was great at pool. She had a century of experience, dammit. That a shifter punk kid had beaten her every day for a week was unacceptable.
Just as she angled her cue, her phone rang again, distracting her as she was about to take the shot.
Ugh!
She pulled the cell out of her pocket and barked into it. "What?"
"Ms. Helsing?"
She didn't recognize the voice and the number had been hidden. Diana was all but ready to stuff the phone back into her signature suede.
"If you know who I am, you know what I'll do to you if you're wasting my time. Hang up or get on with it."
The man on the other end of the phone swallowed, but to his credit, he stayed on the line.
"Please excuse me if I'm interrupting."
That very much depended on the details.
"I'm Dennis Walters, ma'am. I work on the hill."
Ah.
There only was one hill worth mentioning in the entire world.
Her home.
The place where she hadn't set foot in hundreds of years.
It wasn't the first time someone called her from Oldcrest; she was a legacy—one of the only Helsings left in the world. She was also an ancient. Many times, her presence had been requested.
She had the exact same answer each time. No way, no how.
Diana had always been a needy child; not out of her own disposition, she'd just been rather sickly. So her mother had spent all of her time and energy on her, doing her very best to keep Diana alive until she was old enough to be turned—and ignoring Alexius in the process. Their father wasn't exactly the fatherly type either.
He'd gone off the rails after turning because no one had ever taught him better, or taken care of him. And it was her fault.
Alexius got lucky; he was cursed, rather than killed on sight. But Diana had made herself a promise then, and ever since, she'd stuck to it.
She'd never step a foot back home until her brother was allowed to leave it. It was her comeuppance, her way of paying her share of the guilt.
"I have a request that has been given to me by my father, and his father before him told him, too."
Diana's heart stopped, and resumed at the speed of light.
There was only one thing that she'd asked of the mortal residents of the hill.
"I was told to contact you by any means necessary, if Sir Alexius ever left town. Well, he and his mate are on their way to the airport as we speak, miss. Hello? Ms. Helsing? Anyone there?"
But there wasn't anyone on the other end of the phone.
Diana had dropped the device, dropped her cue, and run out to her bike.
She was headed home.
* * *
The End
Next in After Darkness Falls: Blood and Hexes
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May Sage juggles multiple series and prioritizes those which are well reviewed. If you want to speed up the releases in the After Darkness Falls series, don’t forget to leave a review!
Coming Soon
For as long as I can remember, I’ve had to hide who I am. What I am.
They had me play the sheep. They had me blend in. They marked me and sealed my power.
Now I have my freedom because everyone who’s ever wanted me confined is dead.
I could have changed it. I could have altered the course of fate. I could have saved the unseelie queen.
I didn’t.
* * *
Out on the 2nd of January 2020
Wicked Court is a duet.